


Cul-de-sac adventures.

by MellenaBrave



Category: Dream Daddy: A Dad Dating Simulator
Genre: Just stuff regarding the children, Meaning it's mostly platonic, Mostly stuff I don't want to put in my Ernest/Lucien series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-01
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-09 20:20:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,859
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11676384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MellenaBrave/pseuds/MellenaBrave
Summary: Mostly platonic interactions between the kids and maybe sometimes their parents.First chapter:Ernest searches for Duchess in the forest. What he found was not what he expected. (Discontinued)





	1. Weeping woods

“Duchess!” Ernest called out as he walked through the dark forest, he knew he saw her head in that direction. “Cordelia! We need to get home girl!” 

No answer came from the dark woods surrounding him. Ernest felt a slight chill come over him, this place was already weird at day, it was completely nerve wreking at night. 

He fished out his phone, dailing the last number he called. “Sup?” Lucien asked as he answered the phone immediately, Ernest sometimes wonders if he has some kind of psychic ability that tells him when he’s calling ahead in time. 

“I’m alone in a dark forest searching for my dog and probably will get lost.” He said and there is a small pause at the other end before Ernest could hear rustelling, “Where are you at?” Lucien asked and Ernest smiles, “You don’t need to look for me, I’m just calling to keep myself sane, also so people have a lead if I don’t come home tonight.” He meant the last part jokenly but it probably didn’t help that his voice was shaking. He really didn’t do well with scary stuff.

“It’s the one near the playground, right?” Lucien asked, Ernest could tell it was a losing fight. “Yeah, I- Shoot.” 

“What?”

“I think I heared…crying.” Ernest whispered, and sure enough he heared it again, it was small sobing sounds and sniffs. Ernest felt his entire body revolt in terror. 

“…you’re messing with me.” Lucien answered, he sounded uneasy, this whole situation probably freaked him out too"I wish I was.“ Ernest said truthfully, but the sobing got stronger, it sounded like a woman, or a child, Ernest couldn’t tell, but he had to sit through enough horror movies with Carmensita and Lucien to know where that was going. 

Suddenly there was another sound, soft familiar wining sounds Ernest would recognize any day, “I hear Duchess! I think she is somewhere near where the crying is coming from.” 

“Dude, are you insane?! Get out of there and call the police or something!” Lucien scolded him but Ernest ignored him. “Dude what if she’s hurt? I’m not leaving her hear with some horror movie thing going on! I’m hanging up!” 

“Wha-?! Ernest-!”

He ended the call, using his phone as a flashlight as he navigated through the dark woods, the sobs were getting closer, getting louder, Ernest swallowed but continued walking, trying to listen for his dog. The more he walked the more it became clear to him that the sobs and Duchess small wines came from the same place.

Whatever it was that was lurking out there, it had his dog. 

Ernest slowly got closer, approaching the sound, scared of what might be waiting for him. His heart was beating hard enough to hear, his palms were sweaty, causing his phone to almost drop several times. He felt the cold forest wind brush his face as the the branches moved with it, swinging almost threatingly at him, as if they wanted to grab him.

Ernest swallows hard, his throat was dry. He was so scared. He was so mean to his dad before he left to go on a walk with Duchess, what if that’s the last time he ever talked to him? He felt like crying himself now but knew that he couldn’t turn back now, Duchess was in danger.

He froze when he saw it. 

A small hunched over figure was sitting one the ground, sobing and crying. Ernest could make out a mop of light hair burried within the figure’s arms. Ernest felt his air cut off as he stumbled backwards in pure fear. 

Ernest stepped on a branch and the figures head snaped upwards, in his shock Ernest lost his footing, landing on his ass. He scrabled backwards as the moonlight broke through the cloudy sky, illuminating that part of the forest through the small holes in the tree crowns, Ernest took a deep breath as he stared in the figure’s face and realized…..

That said was a normal human child. One he knew even. 

He locked eyes with the younger boy, staring at blood shot puffy blue eyes, as suddenly something rough and wet bruched over his face. “Duchess!” He exclaimed as the dog kissed his face affectionatly before trotting over to the small boy, letting him burry his face in her fur. 

How the hell didn’t he see her earlier?

Ernest was breathing heavily as he came down from the adrenaline rush. He was still panting when he reached for his phone and dailed Lucien’s number again.

“What happened!? Are you okay?! Where are you?!” Was the immediate response he got. “Y-yeah, I’m fine. I found Duchess.” He reasured the other teen, “Just. Can you tell your dad to call the Christiansens? I found their son.” 

“You what?!” 

“I found Chris, he was the one crying- Look, let me handle this, just let them know he’s alright and that I will bring him soon.” He said and after a short pause he heared Lucien sigh, “Okay, I-I will tell Dad to call Mary. Just…don’t scare me like that again.” Ernest felt his heart sink at the other’s tone, he must really have been worrying. 

“I will call you when I get home, I promise.” 

“If you aren’t home in an hour I will go and search for you!” 

Ernest smiled, “Okay.” he said softly before ending the call, he felt warm, despite the cold night air. 

He looked over to Chris and the warm feeling was gone. “Hey Hermano,” he said softly as he approached the 10 year old, “What are you doing out here? Are you lost? Did you hurt your leg?” 

The other boy stared at him blankly, it didn’t have the desired effect with the tears still streaming down his face though. “Stop acting nice, it’s weird.” He said and Ernest chuckled, “Fair enough.” He said as he sat down next to Chris, petting the Duchess behind her ear on the spot she loved so much. 

“Seriously though dude. What’s going on?” Chris hesitated a while longer, but eventually he started to speak. “We found out dad cheated. *Again*.” Ouch.   
Ernest gave the boy a concerned look as he wrapped his arm around him.

Ernest knew about the rumors regarding Joseph’s yacht. It was one of the reasons why he dispised the guy, he knew stuff like this could rip families apart and ruine lives. Having children involved makes the whole thing just even worse.

“I think they will get a divorce this time.” Double ouch. 

“And you came out here because you didn’t want them to see you cry?” Chris nods and Ernest squeezed his shoulder, this sounded a bit too familiar for him honestly.   
“I ran away when my parents first talked about getting divorced too.” 

“Really?”

“Yeah, you know that hollow tree near the field? I hid there for 8 hours until Lucien found me and dragged me home.” Ernest didn’t like that memory, the only good thing about it was him staying at Lucien’s over night. 

“Did you cry too?” Chris looked smaller, almost ashamed. 

Well that settled it. He was adopting him.

“I did. A lot actually.” He admitted, “Christie and Christian are probably crying too. Am I a bad big brother?” Okay, ouch, that was a heartbreaker. 

“Of course you aren’t. Chris you are 10, stuff like this hurts, it’s normal to want to get away from it for a bit. That doesn’t mean you are a bad brother.” He reasured the younger boy. Chris stayed silent and Ernest fished out his phone again, telling Lucien it might take a bit longer.

“I don’t want them to get divorced.” Chris admitted shortly after, Ernest rubbed soothing circles onto his back. “I know hermano,” he sayed, carefully thinking about what he would say next, “Nobody wants for their parents to separate, but sometimes it’s the best option.” 

“Why?”

“Because…sometimes they won’t ever really be happy otherwise.” He remembered how bad things were when they were still together, how little his dad smiled. Chris stared at him before leaning his head on his shoulder. “Is it my fault? Are they unhappy because I’m different?” 

  
“No, no, of course not. Sometimes things just don’t work out between adults. That’s all.” 

“Is dad a bad person?” 

“I don’t know. Do you think he is?”

“He cheated.”

“Sometimes people do bad things, but that doesn’t make them bad people automatically.” Ernest looked back on the past couple of years. He knew a lot of the things he did weren’t okay and that a lot did hurt his dad.   
Chris stared at him, clearly confused, “Sometimes you do these things because you are scared or you don’t think you have an alternative.” 

Chris seemed to think his words over, “I don’t think he’s a bad person.” He admitted and Ernest smiled, “Then who am I to tell you otherwise? Come on, we should go home. Your parents are probably worried sick.”

“I can’t.”

“Chris, I promise-”

“I scraped my knee, I can’t walk.”

“Oh.”

He hunched down so the younger kid could climb on his back, “Okay, you’re driving Ernest express home then.” He declared as he readjusted the wight on his back. That actually earned him a chuckle, “Did I just make you laugh?”

“No.”

“Hm, could have fooled me.”

Duchess barked happily as she leaded their way home, “Ernest.” Chris said and the older boy paused. “You are weird, but in a good way.” Ernest felt a smile tug on his face as he hurried out of the woods, making sure to not shake Chris too hard. “Also thank you.”

“Anytime Hermano.”


	2. Stick and poke bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Somebody on tumblr requested this: Lucien gives M.C a stick and poke tattoo. M.C is the dad's nick name here.   
> (Mild Lucien/Ernest at the end)

[@swearwolfmaia](https://tmblr.co/m2q6R2a-Q9TyQ8rA05ORIAA) ayy. (M.C is the dad’s nickname here, basically it’s his initials)

“So tell me again, why am I doing this?” M.C asked as he anxiously stared at the needle Lucien was holding. “Because you want to impress my dad on your anniversary and because your social anxiety and irrational fears prevent you from going to a professional.” Lucien answered. M.C hated to admit it, but Lucien was right, even the thought that some stranger would judge him over the tattoo he wanted to get was making him feel uncomfortable. 

Lucien examined each piece of equipment he needed for the tattoo carefully, making sure he had everything he needed clean and sterelized.  
Eversince his first stick and poke tattoo Lucien has been practicing to do it himself, Damien even brought him actual tattoo needles, to make sure that if his son was doing this he at least was being as sanitary as possible. 

“Okay, I will wash my hands and then we will start immediately. Are you really sure you want to do this?” He asked a final time. M.C nods, feeling determined. Lucien starts by disinfecting the place where he wanted the tattoo to be. “Last call to get out of this.” Lucien warned but M.C sticked with his decision watching as Lucien carefully drew the design on his wirst. It was a smal rose above the name “Damien”, it wasn’t much but it meant a lot to M.C, he really wanted to show Damien how much he means to him, especially with his other present in mind.

Which reminded him, there was another reason why he wanted Lucien to give him that tattoo. 

“You are doing this really professionally.” He commented on the teens handy work, wincing now and then, Lucien made a noice that probably was suppose to show him that he’s listening. M.C could tell Lucien was being extra careful to make sure he didn’t hurt him too much, which he honestly appreciated, Lucien really was a sweet kid underneath his tough facade. 

“You know…I was meaning to ask you something.” M.C starts and Lucien gives him another sound, which he interpreted as a ‘go ahead.’, “You see, your dad really means a lot to me.” He explained and Lucien nods, “Well duh, I’m poking a needle through your skin here, if that isn’t commitment.” 

M.C chuckled, “Well I was wondering-” 

“If this about you wanting to marry my dad, I already know.”

“Amanda?” 

“Yup.”

M.C grumbled, selled out by his own daughter, unbelivable. “To her defense, she didn’t know me and Ernest were there when she called Daisy about it.” Lucien clarified and it did make M.C feel better somewhat. “Why were you hanging out with Daisy?” He asked, wondering what the kids possible could have been up to.  
“We opened a service where she does people’s homework for money.”

“…”

“I’m joking.” M.C smiled, not sure if he couq believe that. “She wanted us to read her newest short story. Which by the way is way better then the stuff we read in school.” M.C couldn’t help cracking a smile, “I don’t know, did somebody get incased behind a brick wall?” He asked, remembering that particular incident. “No. But it has space bunnies.”  
“Space bunnies are hard to beat.” M.C admitted. 

“So, what do you think?” He asked after a while of silence, Lucien paused, “I’m giving you a stick and poke tatt and you aren’t in tears. Take a wild guess.”

M.C smiled, feeling relifed he had the boy’s approval.

“Want me to help you when you want one with Ernest’s name?” That, earned him a a bit more painful stab.


	3. Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while since she was in that neighborhood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, am I jumping on a band wagon here? Yup.   
> I headcanon Lucien as trans that's why for baby him people use she/her.

She stared at the old bording house, it was different from the way she remembered it. It was...samler, which probably would sound crazy to any other person really, however the last time she visited this place she was only 12. How long ago was that? 13 years at least. 

All those years living on the road let her lose any sense of time she once had. 

She wondered how the old woman would react, her grandmother always was a free spirit. She remembered her mom and step dad talk about sending her off to a mental institution, but she knew better, Nana wasn't crazy, a bit excentric maybe. The real reason why they wanted to get ride of her was because they wanted her money. 

But her Nana saw right through them. 

To say her home situation was bad was a understatement, she grew up in this town, not in that neighborhood, they lived on the other side of town, but she still was rather familiar with this part of town. Her mom always had been a bitch, her dad on the otherhand was a genuinly good man. She never would understand how they even came to be. 

After her father died her mom remarried. Her step dad was a ass. He didn't have a job, he drinked, smoked, and overall just accted like the biggest ass imaginable, the only found memory she shared with him was when she drank her first beer right infront of him and then threw the bottle at his head, 8 stitches. So it was really no wonder that she ran away. She would like to claim she didn't have any complains, but that would have been a lie. 

"Oh, hello there." Came a voice from beside her, she jumped a bit, not expecting to see anybody that early in the morning. She blinked at the person, feeling practically paralysed as she stared into familiar eyes, tinted by red contacts.  
"Oh, pardon me, I didn't mean to scare you. My name is Damien, I am the grandson of the house owner, can I help you in anyway young lady?" The man introduced himself. She stared, not quiet capable to comprehent all of it yet. 

There was a squealing noice and suddenly she directed her attention twoards the stroler the mam was roling around. "Oh pardon me. She gets always cranky in the morning." He said as he took the baby to rock her in his arms. She stared, feeling a weird feeling settle in her stomach.   
"I..." She trailed off, so much had changed since she was gone she suddenly realized. "I'm....moving into the neighborhood and am just taking a walk. The house kind of stood out." She wasn't lying completely. She did rent a shitty apartment not far from here after all. Damian looked pleased with her answer, "It's refreshing to find a fellow person who enjoys morning walks. And it does, doesn't it? My grandmother's house truly is a piece of beauty."

She smiled, "It sure is."

"Oh, I hope you don't mind, but may I ask your name?"

She pushed a strand of brown colored hair out of her face. Should she tell him? She was gone for so long. He had a baby. He is transitioning. What right does she have to waltz back into his life like that? She missed him so much, but she couldn't do this to him. She wasn't ready to truly face him now.

So instead, as she stretched out her hand to shake his she told him the name she had been using for years. "Mary." She said confidentally, it wasn't a total lie, she was planing to have her legal name changed after all.


End file.
